Have you ever been overwhelmed with the amount of choices you have for swim gear? Whether for sports or leisure purposes, adding new swim equipment can not only help your child's swim lessons, but also provide loads of fun for the rest of the family during pool days! It can be an exciting trip to the store to buy fun and helpful gear for our kids and ourselves, but it wouldn't it be useful to know which ones we actually need and will get the most use from? Here are some of our swim school recommendations.
Pool Noodles Pool noodles are our favorite and are one of the best swimming tools you can get because they're very versatile yet very affordable. They are made of polyethelyn foam that anyone can use for many different things but mainly for floating. Pool noodles are great for beginners as they can be a used as a flotation aid for infants, children and even adults. Unlike kick boards and safety vests, pool noodles are flexible and can be manipulated to be used as one pleases and don't tend to be as restrictive as those previously mentioned. One of the best uses for pool noodles is sculling. Sculling allows its user to be more aware of how water moves when we tread the water with a pool noodle. It also allows ease of movement for the arms as it keeps its user afloat while being able to practice both the arms and practice kicks as well. Lastly, pool noodles are light, easy to clean, and fun to have even just for leisurely floating around the pool on a hot summer day.
Sinkers / Pool Rings Another great pool toy that we at The Noodies really love to use are sinkers and pool rings! These sinkers are, as the name suggests, weighted pool toys that sink to the ground so its user can retrieve them. Sinkers are a great way to encourage kids to go underwater, open their eyes, and try to hold their breath so they can retrieve these colorful toys underwater, as if they were sunken treasures! For beginners, sinkers can first be used on the pool steps to ease its retriever to look underwater and try to hold their breath long enough to get hold of the rings. For more experienced swimmers, they can be used for drills and pool games for longer and deeper retrieval underwater. They actually give us an introduction of what it's like to dive underwater. Sinkers are fun and effective tools to ease anybody into going in the water and can also build confidence as it can be used progressively by people of all ages.
Kickboard
Unlike pool noodles and sinkers, kickboards are used more for swim training. They are very simple but effective swim training tools that can correct and assist anybody who wants to improve their kicking in the water. Again, as the name suggests, kickboards are buoyant foam boards that help keep the upper body afloat so its user can focus on their kicks. A kickboard is useful for those who don't yet have the skill to freestyle continuously and use their legs to swim.
Kickboards can also improve strength and efficiency of one's kicking and help in correcting a swimmer's alignment when swimming in the water. In a nutshell, kickboards make floating easier so the swimmer can focus improving their kicks in the water.
Goggles Goggles, as one may already know, help us see in the water. They are airtight and keep water from getting into our eyes. They primarily provide protection from harmful chemicals that may enter our eyes while we swim while also allowing us to open our eyes for longer periods of time even underwater. They can be great especially for those who like to play in the pool and retrieve things underwater. Goggles can also give us a more comfortable time in the water, especially for those who have to wear glasses. For contact lens users, investing in good quality goggles can eradicate the need to taking out their contact lenses when getting into the water. There are also specialized places where one can get prescription goggles nowadays. For whatever purpose they may serve for you, goggles definitely allow us to get the most of our swim time.
Plastic Cups
Lastly, something you might already have lying around are plastic cups. Our teachers at The Noodies Swim School use plastic cups for our younger students to teach them water familiarity. Pouring water from the pool on a child's head repeatedly helps make them familiar with the water. This is a conditioning technique that our teachers use for infants and young children that are afraid of the water. If your child is hesitant to go into the water, this simple technique can go a long way in conditioning your child before getting into the pool.
In case you're looking to buy swim gear anytime soon, check out our recommendations here and you may find them in Decathlon Pasig. Kindly use the instructions in this link to avail of the items either online via Chat-and-Collect or in-store at Decathlon Pasig branch. References : Kickboard | Pool Noodles Image references Cover Photo | Goggles | Decathlon Rings